It’s Christmas Eve and we’ve got a real treat for today. Long-time readers will know I am an avid fan of Janice Hallett and have been since she first wrote The Appeal. So when I heard about The Christmas Appeal, a holiday spin-off of that novel, I knew I had to read it.

The Christmas Appeal takes us back to Lockwood, where the Fairway Players are back to their shenanigans. This year it’s the Christmas pantomime, which seems planned to perfection. But pulling off a successful pantomime will require more than just planning, and it’s an open question whether the Players will make it through Jack and the Beanstalk with all their cast intact. How will the Players make it through the holidays? Only one way to find out…

Puzzles (and jokes) galore

Despite the seemingly innocent facade, there is a murder at the heart of The Christmas Appeal. Bodies are uncovered, suspects investigated, all shared via electronic documentation as per usual. The mystery is a fair-play one, and it’s definitely possible to solve with the evidence provided. Hallett’s mastery of this balance – sharing all the information needed to draw a conclusion, but not a word more – is a delight to read.

Beyond just a murder mystery, though, The Christmas Appeal is an epistolary mystery. I love the epistolary genre in large part for its inherent mystery – I really enjoy the process of putting all the pieces together as a reader. Hallett’s skill is in writing not just an epistolary mystery, but a fair-play one, AND tying in plenty of additional hilarious plot threads. Lower Lockwood is TEEMING with crime, and somehow none of the principals notice. As with any great epistolary, there’s immense humor and tension derived from the dramatic irony, as you predict well in advance what might go wrong.

The Christmas Appeal, in short, is dense with puzzles and jokes to make your mystery-solving bright. It’s a preponderance of puzzles that makes this mystery shine.

All the angles of Christmas

The Christmas Appeal is also the most obviously Christmassy of all the books I’ve rad this year. It literally starts with an end of year recap email while telling the story of a recap panto. Reading these notes and letters, you would be forgiven for thinking that the residents of Lower Lockwood do nothing but Christmas prep for months. The story feels like Christmas as so many experience it – a holiday that creates joy but also requires so much planning and prep work and stress and community spirit.

The epistolary format, again, adds greatly here. Most of the Christmas stories I’ve read have to balance between the personal / family elements of the holiday and the pageantry of public celebrations. Because The Christmas Appeal follows the organizers of the local panto, we get both spheres here. On the one hand, you see the organization of the performance itself, encouraging and celebratory. On the other hand, you see all the work (and emotional labor, and tension) that goes into the holiday season. It’s a perfect encapsulation of all that can make the holidays bright.

Reader’s notes and rating: 🎁 🎁 🎁 🎁 🎁

In my opinion, The Christmas Appeal is the absolute perfect holiday mystery. Puzzles on puzzles, some serious and many less so. Tons of humor but also the poignant moments to reflect the spirit of the season. And brimming with Christmas cheer from the first word to the last. (And to top it all off, epistolary!) If I read one Christmas crime book every year, this is the most likely to be it.

5 Christmas presents.

If you’ve followed me this far on the Christmas mystery adventure – thank you! I will be back tomorrow with a wrap up and some final thoughts. Until Christmas, stay cozy and stay curious!